MCSAP is taking the lead on Light & Unite Red Week on March 22-29.

Light & Unite Red is a community-wide prevention initiative. Each year, nearly 50 community organizations, health departments, high schools, libraries, and government entities work together to shine a spotlight on the dangers of substance use and unite our community to engage in prevention, encourage treatment, and support recovery throughout the year. Light & Unite Red was started by the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division (BHD) and now is led by Milwaukee County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. 

If your organization is interested in joining these efforts, please reach out to the MCSAP coordinator, Alexandria Kohn, at akohn@communityadvocates.net for more information.

 Prevent Suicide Wisconsin has announced its first keynote speaker for its 2021 conference, “Expanding the Conversation,” which will be held April 29 and 30 via Zoom. Caroline Mazel-Carlton is a suicide attempt survivor and director of training for the Wildflower Alliance, where she has supported the development of the “Alternatives to Suicide” approach. Registration will open soon. Learn more about the conference, HOPES Award nominations (due April 1), and call for posters at this link.

As part of The Parenting Network’s Triple P series, parents and caregivers will get ideas on how to work with their child’s teacher to help their child behave responsibly at school and follow rules. It will be held on Zoom from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on March 10. To register, click on this link or call the Parent Helpline at 414-671-0566.

Were you born between the years of 1997 and 2012? Were you born between the years of 1965 and 1980? Join Safe & Sound for a virtual community building workshop, where both generations (Gen Z and Gen X) will have opportunity to heal, repair, and build inter-generational understanding and bi-directional learning from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays in March. Interested in participating? For registration and more information, please contact Brooks Griffin at 414-788-3781 or brooks@safesound.org.

Join Advocate Aurora Health’s no-cost four-week smoking cessation program, Freshstart, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, to plan a successful quit attempt by learning effective ways to overcome nicotine dependence. Freshstart is designed to help any tobacco user, including those who may be unsure about wanting to quit, and specifically addresses ambivalence about quitting. The information, activities and discussion topics help participants discover why they smoke and what motivates them to quit. The sessions will be held on Wednesdays on Zoom from 5:30 to 6: 30 p.m. Register here.

Walworth County Drug & Alcohol Coalition will be hosting a virtual Substance Abuse & Narcan training on Thursday, March 11, at 6 p.m. The virtual training is limited to 30 registrants; click here to register.

La Alianza Geográfica para la Equidad en Salud (GHEA) se ha unido a las redes de Liderazgo Juvenil de CADCA y la Red de Nuestras Voces para presentar una adaptación al español del seminario virtual “Los primeros pasos en el involucramiento de los jóvenes en el control del tabaquismo,” el cual se llevará a cabo el miércoles, 17 de marzo del 2021, de 1 a 2:30 p.m. Inscríbase Aquí.

Join the Walworth County Drug and Alcohol Coalition in cooperation with Elkhorn Area School District in a ninety-minute session on issues related to illicit drug use. The presentation will be held Wednesday, March 17 at 6 p.m. Register online here and contact Senta Holmes with questions at: holmse@elkorn.k12.wi.us or

The Parenting Network is offering this new workshop to provide suggestions about ways that you can improve your child’s self-esteem. It will be held virtually from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on March 18. To register, click on this link or call the Parent Helpline at 414-671-0566.

You and your team are invited to learn more about the work being done to identify youth and young adults who may be at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P). Learn about psychosis signs, symptoms, risk factors and diagnostic criteria when considering youth for Clinical High Risk for Psychosis. It can be rather complex to spot these youth, especially during the early onset of the illness. Please join presenter Dr. Steven Dykstra, Ph.D., for a brief introduction and background on the tools being used to help identify youth who are at risk for developing psychosis, the Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief (PQ-B) and the Structured Interview for Psychosis Risk Syndromes (SIPS). Attendees will learn how these assessments are conducted, who can conduct them, and why it is important to know the questions contained in these assessments.

This presentation will be held April 1, from 12 noon to 1 p.m., via Microsoft Teams. Click here to join the meeting or call in (audio only) 414-436-3520, Phone Conference ID: 897 828 324#. Questions? Contact Maria Castillo, Community Outreach Coordinator, Children’s Community Mental Health Services & Wraparound Milwaukee, Maria.castillo@milwaukeecountywi.gov.

From Mental Health First Aid USA: Supporting the Black Community as a Mental Health First Aider, a good read on how those trained in Mental Health First Aid can be a helpful link between Black individuals experiencing a mental health issue and access to the resources that are right for them.

From the CDC: State of State, Territorial, and Tribal Suicide Prevention reviews the agency’s environmental scan to gain a better understanding of the current infrastructure and suicide prevention landscape among states, territories, and tribes/tribal organizations (STT), to identify resource levels, and to inform comprehensive prevention in the future. 

Stopping Menthol, Saving Lives, a new report from a range of national organizations devoted to the health and safety of kids, details the tobacco industry’s decades-long targeting of Black communities, especially children, with marketing of menthol cigarettes and the devastating impact on the health and lives of Black Americans.

CADCA has produced a number of infographics on trending topics, such as opioids and the pandemic, alcohol use during Covid-19, youth self-harm and suicide, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and more. You can download them here.